To start things off, the image below is a new LED display for next trains that are currently being installed at stations along the Noarlunga line to replace the existing enunciators (which are shocking). Hopefully some form of audio timetable will be reintroduced to help the visibly impaired.

As mentioned in the first post, some stations around the rail network are receiving these new boards known as "Rail Real Time". All stations are also beginning to receive the new enunciators which will replace the current ones, which were introduced in the 1980s. The new enunciators also have emergency phones provided with them.

The stations so far which have received the new boards so far include Brighton, Oaklands (will be removed after a couple of years when the new stations opens), Seacliff, Woodlands Park, Goodwood, Gawler Central, Woodville, Outer Harbor, Coromandel, Woodville, Smithfield. Salisbury and a few other stations should be getting it soon.

The residents living south of Noarlunga seem to want the new rail line extension to Seaford to be pushed forward and done before the government has planned it to be done. In yesterday's Sunday Mail, the estates around Seaford Meadows have been planned to accomodate over 4000 residents, and is largely based around a focus point where the train stations and the line has been proposed, where land has already been reserved for the line. This is one of the few rail projects in SA that seems to be getting a lot of support, particularly from the growing number of residents living south beyond Noarlunga.

Hopefully the slightly run down Oaklands Station will be replaced soon. I can't say this is from my own opinion, but the guys at Railpage get the impression that only motorists care for a new bridge over the tracks nearby, not for a better station.

SOUTH ROAD CHAOS FEARS
By BRYAN LITTLELY
29dec05
RESTRICTIONS on motorists who take sidestreets, truck diversions, and bolstering public transport are being considered by the State Government to avert commuter chaos through dozens of suburbs in Adelaide's south.

A battleplan has been prepared by transport experts to avoid a traffic "nightmare" when major roadworks begin to build an underpass below the city's busiest intersection - Anzac Highway/South Rd - which has about 80,000 vehicles travelling through it each day.

RAA's traffic and safety project manager Rita Excell said yesterday Adelaide's driving population would never before have experienced such a significant transport disruption.

Transport Minister Patrick Conlon said the roadworks would be a "major logistical challenge", with the fear that usually quiet suburban streets will be flooded with commuter traffic.

The Advertiser has been told a six-point plan will be implemented by the Transport Department in a bid to stop commuters finding alternative routes to and from the city by using "local" streets.

Traffic movement modelling programs have just started to determine the likely traffic flow caused by South Rd blockages.

The battleplan includes:

USING electronic transport solutions, including video cameras and variable message signs, to monitor traffic flows and make rapid traffic diversions.

MANAGING freight vehicles and looking at alternative routes.

CONSULTATION with local councils and residents to find ways of limiting the number of motorists who use suburban streets. Additional roundabouts or speed humps may be placed on local streets for this reason.

IMPROVING the flow of traffic information to the public.

KEEPING roads open to public transport and encouraging increased patronage.

The Opposition yesterday called on the State Government to increase public transport services to the affected area and discount fares while construction works were underway. "All indications are that to divert so many vehicles a day is going to be a nightmare," said Opposition transport spokesman Iain Evans.

But Mr Conlon ruled out fare discounts, saying the Government already provided significant subsidies for metropolitan travel "and is not considering further concessions for roadworks".

The underpass work at the South Rd/Anzac Highway intersection is expected to take about 18 months to complete. Building a tunnel under Port Rd will take a little over two years. The Transport Department and project managers have about 18 months to plan these traffic diversions, with minor roadworks starting as soon as mid-2007 and the project due for completion in 2010.

The manager of the South Rd project, Paul Gelston, said the aim was to have constant traffic movement at the Anzac Highway and Port Rd sites throughout the construction period.

"We can see from modelling that there will need to be some minor improvements to intersections elsewhere around the network," Mr Gelston said.

"It could be up to a dozen intersections that we'd need to do work on. They are both amazingly busy roads and we want to keep the traffic moving, even if it gets down to just one lane at times."

Ms Excell said an increase in driver frustration was expected at the start of the project.

"We haven't had a major transport infrastructure like this on our major spine," she said.

"It is a big unknown for the driver population to know what to expect. People will be delayed, but it is short-term suffering for a greater benefit."

It is sad how the Advertiser always prints negative stories about progress. Instead of printing positive material about how the new tunnels, trams, and Port bridge will benefit the population, they write negative articles, finding anything to whinge about. The Advertiser has a duty to advance progress in this state, not whinge about it. Adelaide has to move into the 21st century, or it will die.